The technology around television has changed greatly since inception of this medium. The original paradigm of broadcasting an analog signal over a radio frequency carrier has evolved into the reality of today, where signals are digitally encoded and distributed over myriad platforms, including radio frequency, cable, satellite and the Internet. While early advances introduced the world to color screens and remote control, more recent developments have brought viewers in touch with high definition broadcasts, plasma displays, electronic program guides and video-on-demand.
Yet, the basic process for watching television has not changed in decades. Viewers still tend to turn on the television, select a channel, and watch the television program available on that channel. Recognizing that this basic process is unlikely to change, efforts have turned to enhancing the resulting viewing experience, making it more “interactive” for viewers within the domain of a service provider. In particular, the creator of a particular television program, or the service provider itself, can design additional content to be rendered available to viewers at certain key moments in the television program. The additional content accompanies the particular television program delivered from the service provider, and is made available to multiple viewers of the same channel who have accepted an invitation to receive the additional content.
It will be noted that because the same additional content is shared amongst multiple viewers, the additional content needs to be pre-configured so as to appeal to a relatively wide viewer base, in order for the interactive service to remain profitable for the service provider. As a result, service providers tend to limit their design of additional content so as to achieve a high likelihood of such content being watched by viewers. Ultimately, however, this has the effect of exposing viewers to a stale environment with dubious claims to interactivity.
It is thus apparent that a need exists to improve the viewing experience offered by an interactive environment.